Books

Long gone are the days of moving to London for prestigious Penguin internships. Northern publishing is on the rise, and here’s how to be part of it

Although the weather seems to be lagging behind, Spring is here and with it comes a whole new season of reading

I contacted three independent publishers to garner their views on AI and discover how it is impacting the industry.

Literature with philosophical leanings might just be the antidote to constant doomscrolling

Giovanni’s Room is startlingly modern – and it knows exactly what we’re afraid of

Emerald Fennell’s version of Brontë’s masterpiece is visually striking but emotionally hollow, losing a lot of the power of the original

Women’s writing has always been at the forefront of narrative and genre innovation, and here are six books that prove just that

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women remains one of the most enduring examinations of gender, identity, and societal expectation in nineteenth‑century America.

Queer history is usually told through court cases and Acts of Parliament. A Queer Scrapbook: Britain and Ireland since 1945 asks what happens if we start instead with photocopied flyers and creased photographs. Editors Justin Bengry, Matt Cook, Rebecca Jennings, and E. J. Scott assemble a tactile, visual record of post‑war queer life that feels […]

On a rainy Tuesday evening, Jeanette Winterson explores the power of storytelling as a way to stop time and control fate

Literary translation is not so black-and-white, and understanding this grants us a wealth of new meaning

The Booker Prize has been around since 1969, and with the 2025 Booker winner just being announced, let’s take a look at its position in the modern literary world

On a cold Autumn morning, I attended a writing workshop with author Lily Dunn, putting the advice in her book Into Being to good use

Sayaka Murata’s latest novel to be translated into English, Vanishing World, is a bizarre and often deeply troubling novel. As one of the stars of this year’s Manchester Literature Festival, she came to Manchester Central Library to talk about the book. If anyone went to the event hoping for clarity on the novel, or indeed the […]

Simon armitage gives an entertaining and thoughtful talk for Manchester Literature Festival, as Poet Laureate.